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Updated December 14, 2024
Introduction: Calflora as an Integrator of Taxonomic Information
Calflora is not a taxonomic authority; Calflora relies on the scientific community for plant taxonomy. Calflora follows taxonomic treatments and accepted names in the Jepson eflora (JEF) as its primary authority. Calflora also follows other taxonomic authorities (see references below), tracking
  1. which names are accepted by each authority and
  2. which alternate names (synonyms) have been or still are used by each authority.

Altogether there are more than 34,000 records of accepted and alternate scientific names from these institutions.

References
  • The Jepson eFlora (JEF).

  • USDA PLANTS. Taxonomic treatments follow the Flora of North America north of Mexico.

  • The CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. This is a list of ~ 2500 rare plants. Certain names are accepted by CNPS which are synonymized by the other authorities.

  • Plants of the World Online (POWO), from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

  • iNaturalist (INAT). iNaturalist uses POWO preferred names for most taxa, but sometimes uses names not accepted in POWO.

  • Other taxonomic references (OTH), including the authors of newly discovered plants.

    • New Plant Names: Botanically savvy users can ask Calflora to add new published taxon names that are not yet in JEF. If you think Calflora should include a new plant name, please write to us and provide the publication that establishes the new name.

    Contradictory Interpretations: Taxonomic authorities do not always agree with each other about what the accepted scientific name should be for a particular plant. For instance, in JEF, Berberis aquifolium is an accepted name and Mahonia aquifolium is an alternate name for it. In PLANTS, Mahonia aquifolium is an accepted name and Berberis aquifolium is an alternate name for it.


    About the Name Status Application
    This application allows a user to find out the status of a particular plant name according to the taxonomic authorities mentioned above. It can answer the question:
      Is this name currently accepted,
      or is it an alternate name (aka synonym),
      or was it misapplied at one time to plants in California?
    Searching
    In the Scientific Name box, enter a complete name or a partially specified name using % to match any number of characters. You may enter % more than once. The field is case-sensitive: genus names are capitalized.

    Names of Hybrid Species: Binomial names of hybrid species are properly rendered with an × (ascii 215, the multiplication sign) before the specific epithet. For instance,

      Quercus ×acutidens.
    Because × (ascii 215) is difficult to type, Calflora stores these names with an uppcase X instead. To search for such a name, type an uppercase X directly before the specific epithet:
      Quercus Xacutidens.

    In the Status box, choose a particular status such as accepted, equivalent, or misapplied.

    Results
    In the results, this application will show each name that matches the specified name pattern. For each name, it will show which authorities consider the name to be current, and which authorities consider it to be an alternate (synonym) of some other name. When a value such as appears in the REFERENCE column, it means that PLANTS, JEF, and POWO agree on this particular interpretation.

     

    Note: You may also want to search for plant names on the Jepson eFlora Home Page.
    The Jepson eFlora covers
    • names accepted in the 2012 Jepson Manual, except for those that have been replaced by other names in the revisions since 2012; and
    • new names that have been added in the revisions since 2012.



    Quality Control of Observation Records and Specimen Records
    Users who disagree with identification of a plant on a specimen record or an observation record can comment in Calflora and suggest a different name. When you comment on a record in Calflora, if the owner of the record does not respond to the comment within 7 days, that record will be hidden from default search results. Calflora will not change the plant name on any observation or CCH record; that is for the observer or the herbarium to do.

    Please see also this article about Comments and Corrections.

    Note that if the record is from the CCH, you can also comment on the CCH website. If the record is from iNaturalist, you can also comment on the iNaturalist website.